Thursday, September 30, 2021

Kevin Strickland: Missouri: Bulletin: Major (unwelcome) setback to innocent man caught in an epic battle between the prosecutors who say he is innocent and the State's Attorney General...Kansas City Star (Reporter Luke Nozicka) reports that his hearing will be delayed as local judges have been disqualified..."The state’s highest court prohibited Judge Kevin Harrell in Jackson County from hearing the case and instead appointed Judge James Welsh, who has served on the Western District of the Missouri Court of Appeals, to preside over it. The attorney general’s office had appealed Harrell’s decision to not recuse himself and other Jackson County judges. The office, under Attorney General Eric Schmitt, contended there was an appearance of bias in the 16th Circuit Court because its presiding judge, Dale Youngs, has said he “concurs on behalf” of the court that Strickland, 62, should be exonerated. The state Supreme Court said while Harrell’s actions did not show he displayed disqualifying bias, it found it necessary to prohibit him and other circuit court judges from presiding over the case to “avoid even the appearance of partiality or impropriety.”


BACKGROUND: "The case against Strickland, who was 18 when he was arrested, was “thin from its inception” and relied almost entirely on the testimony of a traumatized woman who was shot during the murders, prosecutors now say. They began reviewing Strickland’s conviction in November after speaking with his lawyers and reviewing a Star investigation into his innocence claimFor decades, two men who pleaded guilty in the April 25, 1978, murders at 6934 S. Benton Ave. swore Strickland was not with them and two other accomplices during the shooting. The lone eyewitness also recanted and wanted Strickland released. A third suspect, who was never charged, said in 2019 that he knew there “couldn’t be a more innocent person than” Strickland, according to a Midwest Innocence Project investigator."

https://www.kansascity.com/news/local/crime/article251833728.html

---------------------------------------------------

QUOTE  OF THE DAY: "Reacting to the news on Twitter, Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas — who has called for Strickland’s release — wrote: “This poor man.”

------------------------------------------------------------------

PASSAGE OF THE DAY: "It’s unclear how exactly the ruling will affect Jackson County prosecutors’ efforts to exonerate and free Strickland. They had planned to argue during a Tuesday evidentiary hearing that Strickland has wrongly spent more than 40 years in prison for a triple murder he did not commit, which could have led to his freedom. The decision Thursday means it will be rescheduled."

------------------------------------------------------------------

PHOTO CAPTION: "KC (Kansas City) man innocent of 1978 triple murder and should be released," prosecutors say.

STORY: "Strickland  hearing delated after Missouri Supreme Court disqualifies local judges," The Kansas City Star (Reporter Luke Nozicka) reports.

GIST: The Missouri Supreme Court has granted a request from the state Attorney General’s Office to disqualify all judges in Jackson County from hearing local prosecutors argue that Kevin Strickland is innocent.

The state’s highest court prohibited Judge Kevin Harrell in Jackson County from hearing the case and instead appointed Judge James Welsh, who has served on the Western District of the Missouri Court of Appeals, to preside over it.

The attorney general’s office had appealed Harrell’s decision to not recuse himself and other Jackson County judges. The office, under Attorney General Eric Schmitt, contended there was an appearance of bias in the 16th Circuit Court because its presiding judge, Dale Youngs, has said he “concurs on behalf” of the court that Strickland, 62, should be exonerated.

The state Supreme Court said while Harrell’s actions did not show he displayed disqualifying bias, it found it necessary to prohibit him and other circuit court judges from presiding over the case to “avoid even the appearance of partiality or impropriety.”

The Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office declined to comment on the decision. 

Strickland’s attorneys said they were disappointed in the decision, but remained confident that any judge who hears the evidence will find Strickland is an innocent man and “end this decades long injustice.”

“We hope this is the last delay the Attorney General is permitted to exercise,” Strickland’s lawyers said in a statement.

Reacting to the news on Twitter, Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas — who has called for Strickland’s release — wrote: “This poor man.”

It’s unclear how exactly the ruling will affect Jackson County prosecutors’ efforts to exonerate and free Strickland.

They had planned to argue during a Tuesday evidentiary hearing that Strickland has wrongly spent more than 40 years in prison for a triple murder he did not commit, which could have led to his freedom. The decision Thursday means it will be rescheduled.

The attorney general’s office, which contends Strickland is guilty, had argued that by publicizing Youngs’ comment, Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker’s office created a “public expectation that Strickland will be released because he is innocent.”

Harrell, however, said he was not aware of Youngs’ statement until it became an issue in his courtroom. He called himself impartial. 

Strickland’s attorneys had argued that Harrell did not abuse his discretion by not recusing himself from the case. They said Youngs’ statement was made while pursuing a possible clemency application for Strickland and noted the Department of Corrections advises that a strong application includes comments “from members of the local criminal justice community.”

“An unfortunate consequence of all the litigation in this proceeding is that the one person whose rights should be at the center of attention, Kevin Strickland, has taken a back seat as the attorney general has filed motion after motion and sought delay after delay,” his attorneys wrote in a previous court filing.

More than 140 days ago, Strickland received rare public support from Baker, who said her office had concluded Strickland, who was 18 when he was arrested, is “factually innocent” in the April 25, 1978, shooting at 6934 S. Benton Avenue in Kansas City.

The gunfire took the lives of John Walker, 20, Sherrie Black, 22, and Larry Ingram, 21."

The entire story can be read at:

https://www.kansascity.com/news/state/missouri/article254599562.html

PUBLISHER'S NOTE: I am monitoring this case/issue. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog for reports on developments. The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic"  section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be found at: http://www.thestar.com/topic/charlessmith. Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at: http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/05/charles-smith-blog-award-nominations.html Please send any comments or information on other cases and issues of interest to the readers of this blog to: hlevy15@gmail.com.  Harold Levy: Publisher: The Charles Smith Blog;
-----------------------------------------------------------------
FINAL WORD:  (Applicable to all of our wrongful conviction cases):  "Whenever there is a wrongful conviction, it exposes errors in our criminal legal system, and we hope that this case — and lessons from it — can prevent future injustices."
Lawyer Radha Natarajan:
Executive Director: New England Innocence Project;
—————————————————————————————————
FINAL, FINAL WORD: "Since its inception, the Innocence Project has pushed the criminal legal system to confront and correct the laws and policies that cause and contribute to wrongful convictions.   They never shied away from the hard cases — the ones involving eyewitness identifications, confessions, and bite marks. Instead, in the course of presenting scientific evidence of innocence, they’ve exposed the unreliability of evidence that was, for centuries, deemed untouchable." So true!
Christina Swarns: Executive Director: The Innocence Project;

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
FINAL, FINAL, FINAL WORD: “It is incredibly easy to convict an innocent person, but it's exceedingly difficult to undo such a devastating injustice. 
Jennifer Givens: DirectorL UVA Innocence Project.
Read more here: https://www.kansascity.com/news/state/missouri/article254599562.html#storylink=cpy

Robert Miller: Oklahoma; Joe D'Ambrosio; Ohio: Bulletin: Major (Welcome Development): The Death Penalty Information Center reports that two men, exonerated from death row (one in Oklahoma and one in Ohio) have received million-dollar payouts for their wrongful convictions and death sentences, that both were tried and convicted in counties with long histories of prosecutorial misconduct and high rates of wrongful capital convictions and that the compensation comes more than a decade after each was released from incarceration. Significant factor in Miller case: the false testimony of forensic analyst Joyce Gilchrist, who claimed semen discovered at the scene were consistent with Miller’s blood-type, that human hair had “Negroid characteristics,” and that animal hairs were consistent with those of a dog Miller had been caring for. Later DNA testing of the semen excluded Miller as its source and evaluation of the hair evidence by a private lab determined her conclusions regarding the human hair were “completely unjustified” and that her animal-hair analysis was invalid. Significant factor in D'Ambrosio case: the false testimony of Edward Espinoza, who reached a deal with prosecutors to plead guilty to manslaughter and other lesser charges in exchange for testifying against D’Ambrosio and a second defendant, Thomas Keenan, who also was sentenced to death. D’Ambrosio later learned that Cuyahoga County prosecutors had concealed multiple pieces of exculpatory evidence from the defense at trial, including that Espinoza’s testimony was false and that Klann had not even been murdered at the creek, as Espinoza had claimed."


PASSAGE OF THE DAY: "Bob Macy’s tenure as Oklahoma County District Attorney was characterized by pervasive misconduct. A June 2016 report by Harvard University’s Fair Punishment Project listed Macy among “America’s Top Five Deadliest Prosecutors” and noted that “misconduct [had been] found in approximately one-third of Macy’s death penalty cases.” Gilchrist’s widespread misconduct led to an FBI investigation and her firing in 2001, but only after her testimony had contributed to 23 capital convictions and death sentences. Eleven of the men she testified against were executed before her misconduct was discovered. All five of the Oklahoma County death-row exonerees were wrongfully prosecuted by Macy or during his administration. In addition, two other Oklahoma County death-row prisoners prosecuted during Macy’s administration, Richard Glossip and Julius Jones, are widely regarded to be innocent."

--------------------------------------------------------------

After DNA excluded Miller and his conviction was overturned in 1997, Macy continued to insist without evidence that Miller had been involved in the murders and initially planned to retry him. Ultimately, in 1998, Macy dismissed the charges against Miller “without prejudice.” Although Miller was freed from prison at that time, Oklahoma County prosecutors offered to drop the death penalty against the actual assailant if he would agree to testify that Miller has been involved in the murders. All five of the Oklahoma County death-row exonerees were wrongfully prosecuted by Macy or during his administration. In addition, two other Oklahoma County death-row prisoners prosecuted during Macy’s administration, Richard Glossip and Julius Jones, are widely regarded to be innocent.

GIST: "Two men exonerated from death row, one in Ohio and one in Oklahoma, have received million -dollar payouts for their wrongful convictions and death sentences. Both were tried and convicted in counties with long histories of prosecutorial misconduct and high rates of wrongful capital convictions. The compensation comes more than a decade after each was released from incarceration. 

In early September 2021, former death-row prisoner Robert Miller reached a $2 million settlement with Oklahoma City for his wrongful conviction and death sentence for the rape and murder of two elderly women in Oklahoma County in 1988. He is one of five death-row exonerations in the county, the fourth most in the nation since the death penalty was reestablished in the U.S. in the 1970s. One week earlier, on August 30, 2021, the Ohio Controlling Board voted unanimously to award Cleveland death-row exoneree Joe D’Ambrosio (pictured) $1 million in compensation from the state’s wrongful imprisonment fund for his wrongful convictions for burglary, kidnaping, felony murder, and aggravated murder of teenager Tony Klann in 1989. He is one of six death-row exonerations in Cuyahoga County, second only to Cook County (Chicago), Illinois. 

Miller was tried during the prosecutorial administration of “Cowboy Bob” Macy, in which 54 people were sent to death row. His conviction was based in part upon the false testimony of forensic analyst Joyce Gilchrist, who claimed semen discovered at the scene were consistent with Miller’s blood-type, that human hair had “Negroid characteristics,” and that animal hairs were consistent with those of a dog Miller had been caring for. Later DNA testing of the semen excluded Miller as its source and evaluation of the hair evidence by a private lab determined her conclusions regarding the human hair were ““completely unjustified” and that her animal-hair analysis was invalid. Miller, who is Black, spent 10 years in prison before prosecutors dismissed charges against him “without prejudice,” meaning that he could still be retried. The charges were not dropped “with prejudice” for another 10 years.

No physical evidence linked D’Ambrosio to Klann’s murder. The teen’s corpse was found in Doan Creek in Cleveland’s Rockefeller Park with multiple stab wounds to the chest and with his throat slit. D’Ambrosio’s conviction rested on the false testimony of Edward Espinoza, who reached a deal with prosecutors to plead guilty to manslaughter and other lesser charges in exchange for testifying against D’Ambrosio and a second defendant, Thomas Keenan, who also was sentenced to death. D’Ambrosio later learned that Cuyahoga County prosecutors had concealed multiple pieces of exculpatory evidence from the defense at trial, including that Espinoza’s testimony was false and that Klann had not even been murdered at the creek, as Espinoza had claimed. D’Ambrosio’s convictions were overturned in 2006 and, after even more prosecutorial misconduct, the federal courts barred his retrial in 2010. Cuyahoga County prosecutors opposed D’Ambrosio’s efforts to obtain a judicial declaration of innocence and continued to oppose compensation for him after the legislature amended the law to provide payment in cases of prosecutorial misconduct.

Oklahoma County Misconduct

Bob Macy’s tenure as Oklahoma County District Attorney was characterized by pervasive misconduct. A June 2016 report by Harvard University’s Fair Punishment Project listed Macy among “America’s Top Five Deadliest Prosecutors” and noted that “misconduct [had been] found in approximately one-third of Macy’s death penalty cases.” Gilchrist’s widespread misconduct led to an FBI investigation and her firing in 2001, but only after her testimony had contributed to 23 capital convictions and death sentences. Eleven of the men she testified against were executed before her misconduct was discovered.

All five of the Oklahoma County death-row exonerees were wrongfully prosecuted by Macy or during his administration. In addition, two other Oklahoma County death-row prisoners prosecuted during Macy’s administration, Richard Glossip and Julius Jones, are widely regarded to be innocent.

After DNA excluded Miller and his conviction was overturned in 1997, Macy continued to insist without evidence that Miller had been involved in the murders and initially planned to retry him. Ultimately, in 1998, Macy dismissed the charges against Miller “without prejudice.” Although Miller was freed from prison at that time, Oklahoma County prosecutors offered to drop the death penalty against the actual assailant if he would agree to testify that Miller has been involved in the murders. 

Miller initially sought $90 million in damages from Oklahoma City, but settled for $2 million. “No amount of compensation could make up for years on death row even if he didn’t have the stigma of allegedly being a rapist of old ladies,” Robert Miller’s attorney, Mark Barrett, told Oklahoma’s News 4. 

Cuyahoga County Misconduct

Six men wrongly convicted and sentenced to death for murder in Cuyahoga County have been exonerated, with every case involving some form of official misconduct. Kwame AjamuWiley Bridgeman, and Ricky Jackson were wrongly convicted and sentenced to death in 1975 and not exonerated until 2014. County prosecutors’ history of misconduct in capital cases has also long included stonewalling efforts to release death-row prisoners who were wrongfully convicted. 

In another case of possible innocence, Cuyahoga County prosecutors have opposed DNA testing that could potentially exonerate Melvin Bonnell for the 1987 murder of Robert Bunner and have been caught lying to the court about having withheld evidence in the case. In April 2020, Bonnell’s lawyers discovered three envelopes containing bullets and shell casings in the prosecutor’s files that prosecutors had falsely claimed for 30 years had been lost or destroyed. Even after Bonnell’s lawyers had found the evidence, prosecutors told the court that “the items in question were not preserved for testing. … The State never hid it from Bonnell.” 

In D’Ambrosio’s case, he and Keenan overturned their convictions because of prosecutorial misconduct that, in addition to showing that Espinoza had committed perjury, also included concealing evidence pointing to another suspect. That evidence suggested that Klann may have been murdered by a man who had previously raped D’Ambrosio’s roommate and who then deflected attention from himself by falsely implicating D’Ambrosio in Klann’s murder. County prosecutors continued to withhold still more exculpatory information from the defense as D’Ambrosio’s retrial date approached in 2009. A week before the trial, they for the first time disclosed the existence of blood samples and soil samples, then, after the retrial was delayed, waited for several more months before revealing that Espinoza had died and so could not be deposed or cross examined about his false testimony.

In 2010, the federal court barred the county prosecutor’s office from retrying D’Ambrosio and, after prosecutors exhausted their appeals of that order, he was finally exonerated in 2012. Cuyahoga prosecutors then fought for eight more years to deny D’Ambrosio compensation for his wrongful conviction. When the Ohio board announced its decision, a spokesperson for Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Michael O’Malley’s office publicly criticized it as “appalling.” It is “beyond dispute,” the office said, that D’Ambrosio was involved in Klann’s kidnapping.

Keenan also overturned his 1989 conviction because of prosecutorial misconduct but was retried and resentenced to death in 1994. A federal court overturned that conviction as well, citing “egregious” prosecutorial misconduct. A state trial court then dismissed all charges against Keenan in 2012 and barred prosecutors from retrying him. However, county prosecutors successfully appealed that order and, to avoid facing a third capital trial, Keenan pled guilty to lesser charges in 2016. He was sentenced to time served.

D’Ambrosio’s attorneys told Cleveland.com that the compensation will afford their client a financial safety net for the remainder of his life and “some form of justice.”

The entire story can be read at: 

https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/news/death-row-exonerees-in-ohio-oklahoma-receive-million-dollar-payments-for-their-wrongful-convictions

PUBLISHER'S NOTE: I am monitoring this case/issue. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog for reports on developments. The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic"  section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be found at: http://www.thestar.com/topic/charlessmith. Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at: http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/05/charles-smith-blog-award-nominations.html Please send any comments or information on other cases and issues of interest to the readers of this blog to: hlevy15@gmail.com.  Harold Levy: Publisher: The Charles Smith Blog;

-----------------------------------------------------------------
FINAL WORD:  (Applicable to all of our wrongful conviction cases):  "Whenever there is a wrongful conviction, it exposes errors in our criminal legal system, and we hope that this case — and lessons from it — can prevent future injustices."
Lawyer Radha Natarajan:
Executive Director: New England Innocence Project;
—————————————————————————————————
FINAL, FINAL WORD: "Since its inception, the Innocence Project has pushed the criminal legal system to confront and correct the laws and policies that cause and contribute to wrongful convictions.   They never shied away from the hard cases — the ones involving eyewitness identifications, confessions, and bite marks. Instead, in the course of presenting scientific evidence of innocence, they’ve exposed the unreliability of evidence that was, for centuries, deemed untouchable." So true!
Christina Swarns: Executive Director: The Innocence Project;

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
FINAL, FINAL, FINAL WORD: “It is incredibly easy to convict an innocent person, but it's exceedingly difficult to undo such a devastating injustice. 
Jennifer Givens: DirectorL UVA Innocence Project.

Julius Jones: Oklahoma: Bulletin: Yet more delay: (I'm wondering if Governor Stitt expects to get more votes for each day he continues to keep Julius Jones locked up. HL); The governor has denied Julius Jones's commutation saying that he is waiting for the October clemency hearing, The Black Wall Street Journal (Reporter Nate Morris) reports...The governor went on to say he believed clemency hearings are more “intensive and thorough” than commutation hearings. Jones’ commutation hearing, however, was nothing but intensive and thorough. Jones’ defense attorney had to prove to an independent panel that a sentencing ruling in a case made decades ago was wrong. The September 13th meeting lasted three hours and included testimony from prosecutors, defense attorneys and family members of the deceased. Now, Julius Jones and his friends and family members must endure another agonizing month without answers."


PASSAGE OF THE DAY: "Jones is also receiving support from an unexpected source. Connie Ellison, the girlfriend of the man Jones is accused of killing, has publicly expressed her doubts that Jones is guilty. In an exclusive Op-Ed sent to The Black Wall Street Times, Ellison said “I know, without doubt, that Paul would not want an innocent man to be executed for his murder.  And neither do I.”

--------------------------------------------------------------------

STORY: "Gov Stitt denies Julius Jones's commutation, waits for Oct. clemency hearing," by Reporter Nate Morris, published by The Black Wall Street Times on September 28m 2021.

GIST: "After more than two weeks of silence following the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board’s recommendation to commute Julius Jones’ sentence, Gov Stitt has announced he will deny the request. In a statement Tuesday night, the Governor said he would instead wait for a ruling following Jones’ clemency hearing. That hearing will take on place or before October 28th.


The statement from the Governor’s office read in part:

“I am not accepting the Pardon and Parole Board’s recommendation to commute the sentence of Julius Jones because a clemency hearing, not a commutation hearing, is the appropriate venue for our state to consider death row cases.”


The governor went on to say he believed clemency hearings are more “intensive and thorough” than commutation hearings.


Jones’ commutation hearing, however, was nothing but intensive and thorough. Jones’ defense attorney had to prove to an independent panel that a sentencing ruling in a case made decades ago was wrong. 


The September 13th meeting lasted three hours and included testimony from prosecutors, defense attorneys and family members of the deceased.


Now, Julius Jones and his friends and family members must endure another agonizing month without answers.


Calls for justice for Julius Jones grow louder by the day


As organizers continue to push for justice, support for Julius Julius’ commutation has grown significantly.  A poll released at the end of August showed that 60% of Oklahomans support commutation.


Julius’s case has also captured nationwide attention.


Last November, Kim Kardashian visited Julius Jones on death row to help raise awareness his case. Earlier this month, Late night host James Carden urged viewers to call Governor Stitt’s and ask him to commute Julius’s sentence. And currently, an online petition demanding Justice for Julius has more than 6.3 million signatures.


Jones is also receiving support from an unexpected source. Connie Ellison, the girlfriend of the man Jones is accused of killing, has publicly expressed her doubts that Jones is guilty. In an exclusive Op-Ed sent to The Black Wall Street Times, Ellison said “I know, without doubt, that Paul would not want an innocent man to be executed for his murder.  And neither do I.”


The entire story can be read at: 

https://theblackwallsttimes.com/2021/09/28/gov-stitt-denies-julius-joness-commutation-waits-for-oct-clemency-hearing/
PUBLISHER'S NOTE: I am monitoring this case/issue. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog for reports on developments. The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic"  section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be found at: http://www.thestar.com/topic/charlessmith. Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at: http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/05/charles-smith-blog-award-nominations.html Please send any comments or information on other cases and issues of interest to the readers of this blog to: hlevy15@gmail.com.  Harold Levy: Publisher: The Charles Smith Blog;
-----------------------------------------------------------------
FINAL WORD:  (Applicable to all of our wrongful conviction cases):  "Whenever there is a wrongful conviction, it exposes errors in our criminal legal system, and we hope that this case — and lessons from it — can prevent future injustices."
Lawyer Radha Natarajan:
Executive Director: New England Innocence Project;
—————————————————————————————————
FINAL, FINAL WORD: "Since its inception, the Innocence Project has pushed the criminal legal system to confront and correct the laws and policies that cause and contribute to wrongful convictions.   They never shied away from the hard cases — the ones involving eyewitness identifications, confessions, and bite marks. Instead, in the course of presenting scientific evidence of innocence, they’ve exposed the unreliability of evidence that was, for centuries, deemed untouchable." So true!
Christina Swarns: Executive Director: The Innocence Project;

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
FINAL, FINAL, FINAL WORD: “It is incredibly easy to convict an innocent person, but it's exceedingly difficult to undo such a devastating injustice. 
Jennifer Givens: DirectorL UVA Innocence Project.

Kevin Strickland; Missouri: Bulletin: Good news for him and his legal team as judge rejects Attorney General's application for more fingerprint testing - and denounces delay, KCTV (Reporter Angie Ricono) reports..."That motion involved additional fingerprint testing. The judge ruled the AG’s office has been aware of all the fingerprints collected by detectives back in 1978 and could have requested that weeks or even months ago instead of at the last minute. New fingerprint analysis excludes Kevin Strickland from the gun. Strickland has served more than 4 decades for a 1978 Kansas City triple murder he swears he did not do."

BACKGROUND: "The case against Strickland, who was 18 when he was arrested, was “thin from its inception” and relied almost entirely on the testimony of a traumatized woman who was shot during the murders, prosecutors now say. They began reviewing Strickland’s conviction in November after speaking with his lawyers and reviewing a Star investigation into his innocence claimFor decades, two men who pleaded guilty in the April 25, 1978, murders at 6934 S. Benton Ave. swore Strickland was not with them and two other accomplices during the shooting. The lone eyewitness also recanted and wanted Strickland released. A third suspect, who was never charged, said in 2019 that he knew there “couldn’t be a more innocent person than” Strickland, according to a Midwest Innocence Project investigator."
--------------------------------------------------------------------

PHOTO CAPTION: "A Jackson County judge ruled Wednesday there needs to be a “prompt resolution” in the Kevin Strickland case and denied a motion by the Missouri Attorney General’s office."

STORY: "Good news for Kevin Strickland and his legal team," by Reporter AngiecRicono, published by KCTV onSeptember 30, 2021.

SUB-HEADING: "Judge denies another delay."

GIST: A Jackson County judge ruled Wednesday there needs to be a “prompt resolution” in the Kevin Strickland case and denied a motion by the Missouri Attorney General’s office.

That motion involved additional fingerprint testing.

The judge ruled the AG’s office has been aware of all the fingerprints collected by detectives back in 1978 and could have requested that weeks or even months ago instead of at the last minute.

New fingerprint analysis excludes Kevin Strickland from the gun.

Strickland has served more than 4 decades for a 1978 Kansas City triple murder he swears he did not do.

The eyewitness who originally testified Strickland was there later doubted her testimony and even contacted a local innocence project to try to help him before she died.

The Jackson County prosecutor’s conviction integrity unit reviewed the case and concluded Strickland was innocent.

Several gunmen admit Strickland was not there the night of the murder.

The Missouri Supreme Court has yet to rule on another motion by the Missouri AG’s office which asks the hearing be moved completely out of Jackson County.

Jackson County prosecutor Jean Peters Baker has previously commented that the Missouri Attorney General’s office has been disruptive in her pursuit to correct a mistake.

Jean Peters Baker did not comment on today’s ruling. She has previously accused the Missouri Attorney General of continually pushing for delays.

Strickland is represented by the Midwest Innocence Project."

The entire story can be read at:

://www.kctv5.com/news/good-news-for-kevin-strickland-and-his-legal-team/article_1e1d5b30-2184-11ec-bfb5-8b10d7b0df1c.html

PUBLISHER'S NOTE: I am monitoring this case/issue. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog for reports on developments. The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic"  section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be found at: http://www.thestar.com/topic/charlessmith. Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at: http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/05/charles-smith-blog-award-nominations.html Please send any comments or information on other cases and issues of interest to the readers of this blog to: hlevy15@gmail.com.  Harold Levy: Publisher: The Charles Smith Blog;

-----------------------------------------------------------------
FINAL WORD:  (Applicable to all of our wrongful conviction cases):  "Whenever there is a wrongful conviction, it exposes errors in our criminal legal system, and we hope that this case — and lessons from it — can prevent future injustices."
Lawyer Radha Natarajan:
Executive Director: New England Innocence Project;
—————————————————————————————————
FINAL, FINAL WORD: "Since its inception, the Innocence Project has pushed the criminal legal system to confront and correct the laws and policies that cause and contribute to wrongful convictions.   They never shied away from the hard cases — the ones involving eyewitness identifications, confessions, and bite marks. Instead, in the course of presenting scientific evidence of innocence, they’ve exposed the unreliability of evidence that was, for centuries, deemed untouchable." So true!
Christina Swarns: Executive Director: The Innocence Project;

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
FINAL, FINAL, FINAL WORD: “It is incredibly easy to convict an innocent person, but it's exceedingly difficult to undo such a devastating injustice. 
Jennifer Givens: DirectorL UVA Innocence Project.

Ballistics? Lakish Hayes: North Carolina: Question of the day: What does a county medical examiner have to do to get fired in North Carolina? Answer: Ignore a hole in the deceased's head! (Even the funeral home workers "were pretty sure it was a gunshot wound based on their experience.")..."Geouge, 28, was killed June 9 after being shot by Rene Oscar Gomez Jr., according to the Rowan County Sheriff’s Office. Gomez and Geouge lived on Saw Road, where the latter was found outside of a rolled-over vehicle. Geouge’s widow, Victoria, told the Post his body was set to be cremated until workers at Wilkinson Funeral Home in Concord raised questions on June 10 about a hole in the right side of Geouge’s head that the medical examiner, Lakisha Hayes, noticed one day earlier."...For failing to identify a gunshot wound, clean the body or remove clothes, Hayes was suspended on June 11 and prevented from responding to new cases until further investigation into the incident could take place. State officials revoked Hayes’ appointment as a Rowan County medical examiner on July 29, the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services told the Post. Trish Fore, a medical examiner trainer, predicted the likely outcome in a mid-June message to Hayes, saying, “I’m not sure you can recover from this big of a mistake.”


PASSAGE OF THE DAY: “There was no exit wound, so I believed it could have been from the accident,” she said. “In the report I received from law enforcement, there was no mention of foul play, no gang affiliation, no drugs or paraphernalia. At the time, there was nothing suspicious indicating the suspicion of a gunshot wound. My plan was to follow up with law enforcement the next day to see if they had any more info because the last time I spoke with the officer they were still investigating and still no suspicion of foul play.” The Highway Patrol relies on medical examiners to make determinations about the cause of death, and their conclusions dictate the type of investigation that occurs and which agency investigates, a spokesman told the Post. Hayes initially ruled the case to be a death caused by debris in the rollover or a possible ejection. She did not report Geouge’s death as a potential homicide to the N.C. Medical Examiner’s Office, according to emails obtained by the Post through the public records request. After the Concord funeral home identified the gunshot wound, Hayes learned from law enforcement officers that Geouge “had some issues” with someone that lived on the road he crashed on and that there was a change in the direction of travel, according to an email sent by Hayes."


------------------------------------------------------------------


STORY: "Messages show fired Rowan medical examiner didn't think hole in man's head was bullet wound," by Reporter Josh Bergeron, published by The Salisbury Post on September 12, 2021.

GIST: A former Rowan County medical examiner told superiors in June she saw a hole in the head of Edward Leland Geouge III, but she didn’t think it was a gunshot wound because there was no exit point, no mention of foul play, no gang affiliation, no drugs and “nothing suspicious.”


Geouge, 28, was killed June 9 after being shot by Rene Oscar Gomez Jr., according to the Rowan County Sheriff’s Office. Gomez and Geouge lived on Saw Road, where the latter was found outside of a rolled-over vehicle. Geouge’s widow, Victoria, told the Post his body was set to be cremated until workers at Wilkinson Funeral Home in Concord raised questions on June 10 about a hole in the right side of Geouge’s head that the medical examiner, Lakisha Hayes, noticed one day earlier.


“The funeral home picked the body up the morning of 6/10/21 and called me and asked about the wound,” Hayes wrote in an email obtained by the Post through a public records request. “They informed me they were pretty sure it was a gunshot wound based on their experience.”


For failing to identify a gunshot wound, clean the body or remove clothes, Hayes was suspended on June 11 and prevented from responding to new cases until further investigation into the incident could take place. State officials revoked Hayes’ appointment as a Rowan County medical examiner on July 29, the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services told the Post.


Trish Fore, a medical examiner trainer, predicted the likely outcome in a mid-June message to Hayes, saying, “I’m not sure you can recover from this big of a mistake.”

Hayes declined to comment Friday on her inspection of Geouge’s body.


‘Never reported to me’

A public report by the N.C. Highway Patrol describes only what happened to the car Geouge was driving. It was traveling on Saw Road when it ran off the roadway and into several fence posts in the 300 block. After impact, the vehicle came to rest on its roof in a field, facing north. While the initial crash report states the vehicle was traveling north, an email from Hayes said troopers later determined the vehicle was traveling south before the crash.


Geouge’s body was transported to the Rowan Medical Center morgue, where Hayes performed an external exam. She took pictures, “noted an approximate .5x.5 cm hole on the right side of his head” and that the right eye was swollen. Geouge wasn’t wearing a seatbelt, according to the N.C. Medical Examiner’s Office.


“There was no exit wound, so I believed it could have been from the accident,” she said. “In the report I received from law enforcement, there was no mention of foul play, no gang affiliation, no drugs or paraphernalia. At the time, there was nothing suspicious indicating the suspicion of a gunshot wound. My plan was to follow up with law enforcement the next day to see if they had any more info because the last time I spoke with the officer they were still investigating and still no suspicion of foul play.”


The Highway Patrol relies on medical examiners to make determinations about the cause of death, and their conclusions dictate the type of investigation that occurs and which agency investigates, a spokesman told the Post. Hayes initially ruled the case to be a death caused by debris in the rollover or a possible ejection. She did not report Geouge’s death as a potential homicide to the N.C. Medical Examiner’s Office, according to emails obtained by the Post through the public records request.

After the Concord funeral home identified the gunshot wound, Hayes learned from law enforcement officers that Geouge “had some issues” with someone that lived on the road he crashed on and that there was a change in the direction of travel, according to an email sent by Hayes.


“I am more than willing to take responsibility for my part but also feel that law enforcement should have contacted me as soon as the story took a turn and new evidence had been given,” she wrote. “I plan to sign the suspension letter and also email in my side of the story, take any course you have on gunshot wound identification and any other suggested courses. Going forward I will consider every possible situation when performing an external of any kind.”


State steps in

Geouge’s body was transported from Rowan County to the N.C. Medical Examiner’s Office in Raleigh, where an X-ray found a projectile in his head on June 11. It was the same day the Rowan County Sheriff’s Office announced an investigation into Geouge’s death and when state officials told Hayes about her suspension.


Trooper Christopher Doty told Brian Hyson, a death investigator for the Medical Examiner’s Office, skid marks on Saw Road indicated Geouge slammed on the brakes and swerved to the right to avoid a collision with an object in the roadway, according to an email from Hyson to Chief Medical Examiner Michelle Aurelius and other staff members. Doty also told Hyson about how Geouge might have been killed.


“SHP speculates that the two vehicles were traveling at a high rate of speed, the truck brake-checked the decedent who braked and swerved, that one of the occupants of the white truck got out and shot the decedent as he was crawling out of his overturned vehicle, and then fled the scene as the bystander pulled up behind them,” Hyson wrote. “SHP stated that he was found lying supine with his head turned far to the right so the gunshot wound was not visible without moving the body. They did not see the wound because they do not move the body (at least not without the medical examiner).”


State officials on June 17 told other Rowan County medical examiners about Hayes’ suspension in an email. Medical examiners in Rowan County are contractors for the state, not full-time employees, and are assigned duty days.


Severity of the situation

After the Raleigh News & Observer’s email newsletter named N.C. Insider quoted a Salisbury Post new article about Hayes’ suspension, Assistant Secretary for Public Health Mark T. Benton took a personal interest in the matter, asking for more information in case other media outlets inquired. A staff attorney responded that Hayes was responsive and apologetic when confronted with issues in the past about rushed examinations and poorly written reports, but hadn’t followed up on retraining and re-direction.


Fore said the suspension came rapidly because of the severity of the mistake.

“When I reviewed the photos I was a bit shocked that you missed this injury, it’s pretty clear right off that it’s a (gunshot wound),” Fore wrote. “I’m also concerned that you never removed clothing or cleaned the wounds and I guess you are lucky in that he didn’t have more than one (gunshot wound). This will be addressed as well since we can only assume you never do full thorough examinations on your external cases.”


Maj. John Sifford of the Rowan County Sheriff’s Office said the case against Gomez, who is charged with murder as well as crimes unrelated to Geouge’s death, is awaiting a trial. Gomez remains in the Rowan County Detention Center and his next court date is Sept. 30."


The entire story can be read at:


https://salisburypost.com/2021/09/12/messages-show-fired-rowan-medical-examiner-didnt-think-hole-in-mans-head-was-bullet-wound/
PUBLISHER'S NOTE: I am monitoring this case/issue. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog for reports on developments. The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic"  section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be found at: http://www.thestar.com/topic/charlessmith. Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at: http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/05/charles-smith-blog-award-nominations.html Please send any comments or information on other cases and issues of interest to the readers of this blog to: hlevy15@gmail.com.  Harold Levy: Publisher: The Charles Smith Blog;
-----------------------------------------------------------------
FINAL WORD:  (Applicable to all of our wrongful conviction cases):  "Whenever there is a wrongful conviction, it exposes errors in our criminal legal system, and we hope that this case — and lessons from it — can prevent future injustices."
Lawyer Radha Natarajan:
Executive Director: New England Innocence Project;
—————————————————————————————————
FINAL, FINAL WORD: "Since its inception, the Innocence Project has pushed the criminal legal system to confront and correct the laws and policies that cause and contribute to wrongful convictions.   They never shied away from the hard cases — the ones involving eyewitness identifications, confessions, and bite marks. Instead, in the course of presenting scientific evidence of innocence, they’ve exposed the unreliability of evidence that was, for centuries, deemed untouchable." So true!
Christina Swarns: Executive Director: The Innocence Project;

Wednesday, September 29, 2021

Ernest Lee Johnson: Question of the day: Will medicine/science be trumped by vengeance once again in America - as Missouri gets set to execute yet another Black American? The answer? Sadly, It's all too likely. As Civil Rights advocate Nimrod Chapel notes, in his recent St. Louis Post-Dispatch guest column: "Yet even more egregious is the reality that people with intellectual and developmental disabilities continue to be sentenced to the death penalty and executed despite the fact that the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2002 Atkins v. Virginia decision ruled that such acts are unconstitutional and violate the tenants of the Eighth Amendment’s “cruel and unusual” clause. Johnson, who is Black, is among the population of the most vulnerable, targeted, and neglected in our society. Every unbiased medical professional who has evaluated him has determined him to be intellectually and developmentally disabled. We know that the death penalty disproportionately affects people of color with intellectual disabilities. A recent analysis by the Death Penalty Information Center found that 80% of people who have their death sentences overturned due to constitutional violations are people of color. Two-thirds of intellectually disabled people sentenced to death are African American. There is no question the system is broken beyond repair."


COMMENTARY: "Cruel and unusual from the noose to the needle," by Nimrod Chapel Jr., published by The St, Louis Post-Dispatch on September  29, 2021.

GIST: "On Oct. 5, the state of Missouri intends to execute Ernest Lee Johnson, 61, in what can only be described as the culmination of a lifetime of tragedy, neglect, and act of inhumanity.

As much as this nation proclaims itself as having progressed beyond the oppression and degradation of the chattel slavery and subsequent Jim Crow eras of the past, we are reminded on a daily basis that this is not, in fact, the case. Rather, it is only what society repeats to itself in an effort to soothe a collective guilty conscience.


In actuality, despite the efforts of many advocates to bring actual justice into our criminal legal system, many states and the federal government continue to impose the death penalty. All of these acts are horrific reminders that what is supposed to be an advanced and compassionate civilization is still far from it. Yet even more egregious is the reality that people with intellectual and developmental disabilities continue to be sentenced to the death penalty and executed despite the fact that the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2002 Atkins v. Virginia decision ruled that such acts are unconstitutional and violate the tenants of the Eighth Amendment’s “cruel and unusual” clause.


Johnson, who is Black, is among the population of the most vulnerable, targeted, and neglected in our society. Every unbiased medical professional who has evaluated him has determined him to be intellectually and developmentally disabled. We know that the death penalty disproportionately affects people of color with intellectual disabilities. 

A recent analysis by the Death Penalty Information Center found that 80% of people who have their death sentences overturned due to constitutional violations are people of color. Two-thirds of intellectually disabled people sentenced to death are African American.

There is no question the system is broken beyond repair.


Since his conception, Johnson’s entire life was filled with tragedy. He was born with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder. He grew up in extreme poverty, having been abandoned by his parents, physically abused by his caretakers, sexually abused and exploited. He struggled in school with no support from educators. Johnson was born to parents who were poor and a generation removed from enslavement. His father was born on a plantation in Luka, Mississippi, where it was believed that his father was the white owner of the land. Johnson’s paternal grandmother moved her children to Mississippi County, Missouri, where his father grew up to be a sharecropper. Economic hardship, illiteracy, alcoholism and other realities of poverty created an existence for Johnson that afforded him zero opportunity or help for his intellectual disabilities.



The legacy of Missouri’s long history of racism, violence and Jim Crow is apparent throughout our criminal legal system today. A report by the Equal Justice Initiative, “Lynching in America,” explores the ways in which the systems of mass incarceration and racially biased capital punishment were shaped by the “terror era.” In Missouri, there is a direct correlation between counties with a high number of acts of racial terror and counties that impose death sentences today.




Mississippi County, where Johnson grew up, had four documented racial terror lynchings. In 2017, the Mississippi County jail was a home to the extrajudicial execution of Tory Sanders, a Black man whose car broke down when he was traveling home through Missouri. He died the same way as George Floyd, with a knee on his neck. No one was ever prosecuted for that.


Selective prosecutions for murder in Missouri have been the rule for a long time. Black defendants typically end up not only being prosecuted but wind up receiving the worst of punishments. The idea that people are assigned a different value in the legal system simply because of their skin tone is alive and well in Missouri. This is precisely why the Missouri State Conference of the NAACP placed a travel advisory on the state in 2017.


As much as society wants to move beyond our past, the vestiges of racial injustice, institutional marginalization and systemic dehumanization linger on through systems like the death penalty. Even though these things are endeavored to be hidden and silenced behind the concrete walls and steel bars of prisons, the barbarism and cruelty of executing a Black man with an intellectual and developmental disability illustrate these horrors clearly. Ernest Johnson deserves mercy, compassion and, most importantly, he deserves recognition of his constitutional protections against the cruel and unusual punishment.


On Oct. 5, the state of Missouri intends to execute Ernest Lee Johnson, 61, in what can only be described as the culmination of a lifetime of tragedy, neglect, and act of inhumanity.

As much as this nation proclaims itself as having progressed beyond the oppression and degradation of the chattel slavery and subsequent Jim Crow eras of the past, we are reminded on a daily basis that this is not, in fact, the case. Rather, it is only what society repeats to itself in an effort to soothe a collective guilty conscience.


In actuality, despite the efforts of many advocates to bring actual justice into our criminal legal system, many states and the federal government continue to impose the death penalty. All of these acts are horrific reminders that what is supposed to be an advanced and compassionate civilization is still far from it. Yet even more egregious is the reality that people with intellectual and developmental disabilities continue to be sentenced to the death penalty and executed despite the fact that the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2002 Atkins v. Virginia decision ruled that such acts are unconstitutional and violate the tenants of the Eighth Amendment’s “cruel and unusual” clause.


Johnson, who is Black, is among the population of the most vulnerable, targeted, and neglected in our society. Every unbiased medical professional who has evaluated him has determined him to be intellectually and developmentally disabled. We know that the death penalty disproportionately affects people of color with intellectual disabilities. 

A recent analysis by the Death Penalty Information Center found that 80% of people who have their death sentences overturned due to constitutional violations are people of color. Two-thirds of intellectually disabled people sentenced to death are African American.

There is no question the system is broken beyond repair.


Since his conception, Johnson’s entire life was filled with tragedy. He was born with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder. He grew up in extreme poverty, having been abandoned by his parents, physically abused by his caretakers, sexually abused and exploited. He struggled in school with no support from educators. Johnson was born to parents who were poor and a generation removed from enslavement. His father was born on a plantation in Luka, Mississippi, where it was believed that his father was the white owner of the land. Johnson’s paternal grandmother moved her children to Mississippi County, Missouri, where his father grew up to be a sharecropper. Economic hardship, illiteracy, alcoholism and other realities of poverty created an existence for Johnson that afforded him zero opportunity or help for his intellectual disabilities.


The legacy of Missouri’s long history of racism, violence and Jim Crow is apparent throughout our criminal legal system today. A report by the Equal Justice Initiative, “Lynching in America,” explores the ways in which the systems of mass incarceration and racially biased capital punishment were shaped by the “terror era.” In Missouri, there is a direct correlation between counties with a high number of acts of racial terror and counties that impose death sentences today.


Mississippi County, where Johnson grew up, had four documented racial terror lynchings. In 2017, the Mississippi County jail was a home to the extrajudicial execution of Tory Sanders, a Black man whose car broke down when he was traveling home through Missouri. He died the same way as George Floyd, with a knee on his neck. No one was ever prosecuted for that.


Selective prosecutions for murder in Missouri have been the rule for a long time. Black defendants typically end up not only being prosecuted but wind up receiving the worst of punishments. The idea that people are assigned a different value in the legal system simply because of their skin tone is alive and well in Missouri. This is precisely why the Missouri State Conference of the NAACP placed a travel advisory on the state in 2017.


As much as society wants to move beyond our past, the vestiges of racial injustice, institutional marginalization and systemic dehumanization linger on through systems like the death penalty. Even though these things are endeavored to be hidden and silenced behind the concrete walls and steel bars of prisons, the barbarism and cruelty of executing a Black man with an intellectual and developmental disability illustrate these horrors clearly. Ernest Johnson deserves mercy, compassion and, most importantly, he deserves recognition of his constitutional protections against the cruel and unusual punishment."


The entire story can be read at: 


https://www.stltoday.com/opinion/columnists/chapel-cruel-and-unusual-from-the-noose-to-the-needle/article_5bdb267a-2fed-51de-b622-be622b36fe1f.html


PUBLISHER'S NOTE: I am monitoring this case/issue. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog for reports on developments. The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic"  section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be found at: http://www.thestar.com/topic/charlessmith. Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at: http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/05/charles-smith-blog-award-nominations.html Please send any comments or information on other cases and issues of interest to the readers of this blog to: hlevy15@gmail.com.  Harold Levy: Publisher: The Charles Smith Blog;
-----------------------------------------------------------------
FINAL WORD:  (Applicable to all of our wrongful conviction cases):  "Whenever there is a wrongful conviction, it exposes errors in our criminal legal system, and we hope that this case — and lessons from it — can prevent future injustices."
Lawyer Radha Natarajan:
Executive Director: New England Innocence Project;
—————————————————————————————————
FINAL, FINAL WORD: "Since its inception, the Innocence Project has pushed the criminal legal system to confront and correct the laws and policies that cause and contribute to wrongful convictions.   They never shied away from the hard cases — the ones involving eyewitness identifications, confessions, and bite marks. Instead, in the course of presenting scientific evidence of innocence, they’ve exposed the unreliability of evidence that was, for centuries, deemed untouchable." So true!
Christina Swarns: Executive Director: The Innocence Project;

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
FINAL, FINAL, FINAL WORD: “It is incredibly easy to convict an innocent person, but it's exceedingly difficult to undo such a devastating injustice. 
Jennifer Givens: DirectorL UVA Innocence Project.